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Like most during the pandemic I spent an inordinate amount of time scrolling through TikTok, and one account that was served up being a horror fan by the almighty algorithm, was a young woman’s feed by the name of Kyra Elise Gardner. It was clear right off the bat she was not your typical horror fan stan account, when I saw her videos that were filmed in what appeared to be a practical effects warehouse surrounded by Chucky dolls. As I fell down the rabbit hole of her feed, I discovered she was the daughter of Tony Gardner, who was the chief puppeteer for most of the Child’s Play Series. Kyra was using the app to get the word out about a doc she was working on, which was about not only the Child’s Play franchise as whole, but her dad’s work and the strange dynamic of having grown up with one the most notorious cinematic slashers.

Living with Chucky is a heartwarming deep dive into the history of Child’s Play, which centers on serial killer, Charles Lee Ray aka “Chucky” — who after being mortally wounded by police, used voodoo to put his soul in a 3 foot Good Guy doll. Each entry as the norm for these things had Chucky coming back and adding to his bodycount. These kinds of fandom docs are plentiful right now, simply because it’s an easy way to capitalize on a pre-existing audience and then incorporate those same folks into the doc you’re shooting — that being said, its not as easy as it sounds. What Krya brings to the table is not only her female perspective, which is appreciated in this sea of sausage of horror fandom, but her connection to the talent in front of her camera. While the first two acts are your more traditional talking head doc with a bit more of a laid back vibe, the third act is truly some of the most heartfelt work I’ve ever seen in one of these takes on a horror franchise.

Of course we get the answers hard-core fans might already know. But as someone who’s done more than my fair share of talent interviews, there’s a rapport and comfortability between Kyra and her subjects that usually is hard won, which gives this information a fresh and candid perspective. Kyra has interviews with ALL of the heavy hitters in this franchise and even some of its celebrity fans. It’s also immediately evident there’s not that weird super fan dynamic here you tend to get with these docs, instead there’s a kindness you can perceive in their interactions as she works her way through the franchise, film after film. It’s in the third act when she discusses Brad Dourif and his daughter Fiona’s relationship, and how they began sharing the role of Chucky that the camera literally pulls back in a Holy Mountain-esque move, to show Kyra’s father doing the sound under a table as we now are presented with two sets of fathers and their daughters.

After this doc breaks that fourth wall it goes super wholesome in the best possible way, and honestly moved me. Kyra pivots using the horror series to explore the families created by Chucky’s almost four decade long reign, both related and non-related. That change of tone is where this doc truly finds its voice and transforms into something remarkable. While its take on the films is as comprehensive and informative as one could expect, it’s through Kyra’s unique personal perspective that it gives us these unrehearsed moments and candid retrospective thoughts that we wouldn’t get otherwise. Living with Chucky a heartfelt and charming take on not only of one woman’s relationship with her father, but her mass murdering 3 foot tall red headed step brother as well.

Travis Stevens crafts a potent, phantasmagorical fable

The fateful invitation to a cabin in the woods. It’s a familiar beginning for many a horror film, but Travis Stevens uses this jumping off point for an enthralling descent into madness and mysticism. Museum curator Meredith (Sarah Lind) is finally ready to take another chance at a relationship. After an abusive end to her last one, the disarming Bruce (Josh Ruben) has charmed and disarmed her enough to whisk her away to his rustic retreat. Meredith is disconcerted by a number of red flags as they approach their destination, and further perturbed by ominous voices, and a glimpse of a mysterious female figure, once they arrive at the cabin. Her suspicions are solidified when she makes a connection between a sculpture in Brad’s home, and a missing art buyer. The piece depicts Tisiphone, Alecto and Megaera, aka the Erinyes. Three Furies, mythical figures long associated with retribution against liars, thieves, and murderers. Meredith’s epiphany causes Bruce’s plans to fall apart, and after a blow to his head, so do the walls in his mind. Setting him on course for a reckoning with these entities he seems to revere.

After his directorial debut, The Girl on the Third Floor, Travis Stevens (working here with co-writer Nathan Faudree) again returns to a dive into the darkness of man. A potent opener doesn’t just deliver an effective introduction to the Greek mythology woven into the fabric of the film, but also to the real Bruce. Or at least a dark part of him. A man with warped obsessions and a bubbling undercurrent of misogyny, haunted by a mysterious figure called the Red Owl, that drives him to prey on women. A first act tees up a potent and stylish psychological thriller, before the second embraces a Greco-Pagan nightmare. Myth becomes manifest as a swirl of ethereal forces seek to draw this man’s darkness into the light and mete out justice for his acts.

Visually stylish, Fawn delivers seedy and sumptuous images reminiscent of ‘70s Giallo fare. Lurid reds, art-deco features, and a thick lacquer of grain comes from the film stock used during shooting. Cinematographer Ksusha Genenfeld uses the darkness of the cabin’s surroundings and interiors to superb effect. The brooding imagery, sense of foreboding, and harsh, discomforting violence occasionally give way to a sense of fun, with Stevens game to roll out some horror tropes, and even toy with more farcical elements. Between this and Pearl, we have two films this year that deliver a hilarious and yet deeply relevant sequence laid over the end credits. Practical effects from puppets to gore add tangibility, which also comes from the ornate costume design of Erik Bergrin. The score by Vaaal (Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying) coupled to effective sound design, is the final piece to lock down this discordant affair.

Lind is captivating as Meredith; bringing an endearing quality to her through a channeling of strength and vulnerability. A needed bedrock for a film of this ilk. Ruben infuses Bruce with a multitude of unsettling layers. Words and smooth talk that reek of practice. Evasive mannerisms and small inflections or responses that give a hint as to his true nature. Something increasingly apparent as control and power is stripped away from him, leaving him exposed, where no amount of evasion, lies, or gaslighting can save him. It’s in this tribunal that A Wounded Fawn drives home its core truth. That the strength so often perceived in some men, and the dominance they seek to assert over women, comes from a need to mask an ugly weakness within.

Like most during the pandemic I spent an inordinate amount of time scrolling through TikTok, and one account that was served up being a horror fan by the almighty algorithm, was a young woman’s feed by the name of Kyra Elise Gardner. It was clear right off the bat she was not your typical horror stan account, when I saw her videos that were filmed in what appeared to be a practical effects warehouse surrounded by Chucky dolls. As I fell down the rabbit hole of her feed, I discovered she was the daughter of Tony Gardner, who was the chief puppeteer for most of the Child’s Play franchise. Kyra was using the app to get the word out about a doc she was working on about not only the Child’s Play franchise as whole, but her dad’s work and the strange dynamic of having grown up with one the most notorious cinematic slashers.

It was a bit surreal having experienced Kyra’s journey through her TikTok’s and here I was a few years later interviewing her for her doc’s premiere at Fantastic Fest. Because at one point there was the possibility she wouldn’t be able to afford to license the footage from the series. You can check out my review here, but the short is it was every bit as charming and heartfelt as you’d expect, while still being a comprehensive look at the Child’s Play franchise through Kyra’s eyes.

First off congrats on the film, I am glad you got to finish it the way you wanted. I think I first heard about it when I found your account on TikTok during the pandemic, what sort of brought you to that as a forum to promote your film and what was that like using that platform as a creator?

Oh, wow. I actually started TikTok over COVID, when I was still finishing the documentary. One of the last things at the time that I was filming was getting B-roll of horror fans at conventions. Then Covid hit and all the conventions were closed and I was like, well, there it goes my opportunity. I kind of just started it as, I had seen other people’s videos do well and I really wanted to incorporate the fans into the documentary and I thought maybe I’ll make a TikTok asking if people can submit their photos to an email, so that I can still have things that I can use as B roll and include people in it. It kind of just took off and then people were interested in the documentary itself.

So as the ego of a documentarian would dictate, I was like maybe I’ll just kind of document the process of making this thing because I’m a newer filmmaker and this is all new to me in terms of setting out to do a feature and especially selling it. Even this right now is so new to me. So I kind of just documented the process over the course of it and it’s become this wonderful tool, to help market it and, and get the word out to people that it exists.

I am curious. What was your first experience or memory of Chucky growing up and how did that sort of shape your relationship to horror cinema?

The ones that I don’t remember, I blocked out in my mind. (laughs)

My first actual experience was when I was four, but I do not recall this. My dad was doing research coming on to Seed of Chucky, of what Tiffany and Chucky’s baby was going to look like. So he was designing Glen and had brought scarred Chucky and Tiffany home and apparently I saw them, and I freaked out and locked myself in my room and was late to preschool that morning.

But my first actual solid memory of it was actually seeing Seed of Chucky as my first introduction to it, and I was eight at the time. I didn’t know that my dad makes an appearance in the movie, but also dies in the movie (laughs). So I was absolutely traumatized that day. I thought my dad had died in real life, so that was my introduction to it, but I always gravitated towards the horror genre. For some reason, I just really liked being scared and maybe it’s because I was so desensitized to it growing up the way I did, so it was always a fascination. I was always watching horror movies in middle school and high school. If you were coming over to my house to hang out, we were watching horror movies and there was no ifs, ands or buts about it.

While I’ve seen quite a bit of fandom-esque docs I think your personal perspective brings an element to it that gives the film something truly and uniquely personal, what made you want to share that with the world?

It started as a short film when I was at Florida State University, they had a documentary semester and actually it was two documentaries that we had watched that year, Searching for Sugarman, but specifically this documentary Stories We Tell and it’s about this woman’s journey and about her own family. They did this beautiful job of making recreational footage, so it felt like you were following this story and I didn’t know, documentaries could be that way, and so personal and touching. So I set out to do something of the same sort. I originally intended on doing a documentary about my dad in general, but then this was, you know, a more focused subset of something that has been with me my entire life.

Chucky has always been at my birthday parties when I was growing up. I’m an October baby, so he was always there.So I created this short film in college and people really seemed to respond to it, because of the familial aspect of it and I realized that it really was something unique that I may have taken for granted to be honest, because when you live in that reality, you can’t see it objectively. So that’s really what inspired me to make the feature was the response to doing the short and seeing how fans appreciated that so much and the people who were in it as well, like Don and Fiona and Brad. Their responses were really wonderful and made me wanna figure out how to do a feature film.

I love how you structured the story and do your due diligence to really dig into the franchise before you pull back the camera if you will, it was both an inspired and moving way to construct the story showing the parallels of fathers and daughters in front and behind the camera, How did you come to that approach and how long did you take to find that?

Really in the editing process is where that came together.

I knew I wanted that familial aspect for sure, because that’s what was so great about the short. But it was really trying to figure out when to put that in, because it was a documentary trying to not only encompass, 35 years at this point of history, but also talking on other subsets, like the fact that it’s all practical and not CGI and then the family that was forged with just the Chucky people, as well as that taking away from their own families.It was hard to figure out when that was gonna happen in the documentary and how. I figured we needed to touch on the films themselves and kind of have a history first, before talking about their impact.

So I tried a version where I came in earlier in the documentary and you knew all along, but you know, my dad didn’t come on until Seed of Chucky. So there was this awkward 40 minutes where we weren’t really there and it was hard to pepper us into it. So that moment, when Fiona says you can ask your Dad, I figured it was a perfect act to break into getting a little bit more personal and set up the stage for that.

One thing I don’t think folks would realize watching that comfort of your subjects in your hands. As a seasoned journalist who gets to interview people I can appreciate that’s not easily earned. Being somewhat familiar with all of these people, what was it like to really explore and get to know your father’s other family if you will?

Yeah, that’s why honestly when I went to go do a feature version of it, I opted to not reshoot a few interviews because because it was just so candid, especially being a student film at first people’s walls really came down. Not only because of who I was and my dad, but also because it was a student short originally. So that was lovely that happened.

When that switch flips in the third act, it’s like almost feels like a whole different film and everybody’s so personable and that really pulls the viewers guard down too, speaking personally it definitely draws you in.

Yeah and it was so great to see and experience in person, like I know we are all filmmakers and we do this thing in the film industry, but we’re really all just human beings who have families and really diving in, especially David Kirshner, when he says, nobody asked him that question of what it was like being away from his daughters. My heart dropped in that interview because I was like, you’ve been doing this longer than I’ve been alive and nobody seemed to care. But I care so greatly because you know, that was the biggest thing in my childhood was missing my dad for so long. So it was so great to have these communal experiences with each other and actually talk about them and how that felt. It was just like a full circle moment of like, wow, when I was younger, I thought I had this isolated experience, but it was all the families involved.

How cool was it that my dad also felt so lonely, which we had never talked about before, and he had the second family that got to take care of him while he was away and vice versa of him with them. So it was so cool to experience that with them as well and talk about those things.

What is something you took from this experience that you didn’t expect, whether it be getting to know someone or appreciating a film in the franchise?

How hard it is to make a documentary! (laughs)

I mean, it’s so many things really. I mean, really that it has been, the same core group of people for over 35 years (Making Child’s Play films) and just the amount of care that goes into it. You know, they all talk about it, but really hearing everybody’s sides of just how much they put into this franchise, they’re so dedicated. It’s crazy. But the ultimate thing honestly, was my dad and I were already close and I consider him my best friend, but having these conversations about what my childhood was like and what it was like for him as a father was honestly the biggest revelation and bonded us together even closer than I didn’t think was possible. Also myself going into filmmaking and this being my first feature film and him being involved in it, it was such a big and special experience to kind of talk even more deeply about our relationship with each other.

You’ve already directed a few shorts and now this, your first feature. What do you have planned next? We can always use more women directors in horror.

Absolutely! More women everywhere. I’m currently writing my first narrative feature, which is horror and a period piece, which should be super fun. So I hope that that’s the next thing I dive into, and I have another friend’s script, that’s like a thriller, horror that I’m hoping to direct as well.

Quentin Dupieux’s comedy Smoking Causes Coughing is pitched as a team-building retreat for a Power-Rangers-esque group; and while that is the primary driving story, it plays more like a fever dream anthology where Dupieux shoved in a few short films he’s been ruminating on. This results in a delightfully absurd stoner jam that caused our theater to continually cackle with glee throughout the runtime, and my favorite film by him since Rubber.

Our story focuses on a group of 5 “avengers” dressed in matching spandex who call themselves Tobacco Force. They spend their days vanquishing men-in-foam creatures with hand to hand combat and the carcinogenic properties of cigarettes, led with the direction of a goo dripping rat who, in the universe of this movie, oozes not just green slime, but sex appeal. Going over much more would ruin some delightful surprises that are best left unspoiled, as many laughs are generated from unexpected shock. The overall plot is of little importance anyway.

Dupieux’s absurdist humor likely isn’t for everyone, but by structuring the movie more like an anthology and limiting each bit in his film to ten or so minutes, nothing outstays its welcome and the pace gives the viewer ample opportunity to find at least one segment that will gel. For me, an avid fan of his first Fantastic Fest film Rubber, the whole thing played. There’s a tightness to the comedy here that in some of his films feels meandering. The structure adds to add, but the pace is blistering for a comedy — there’s no room for boredom even if the jokes don’t land. Some of his other efforts, such as Wrong and Wrong Cops, were enjoyable but lacked consistency.

The cast is huge and all lean into the comedy with delightful commitment. There’s appearances from a few French names that cinephiles might recognize, such as Adèle Exarchopoulos from Blue Is The Warmest Color, but everyone blends into the preposterous world created.

If the superhero genre has grown stale and 90’s television throwbacks are making a return, Dupieux’s Smoking Causes Coughing feels fresh in those genres, even if Dupieux himself doesn’t reinvent his own formula. His comedy works for me, and I loved witnessing a tight execution of it.

The 2022 edition of the film festival hits Austin, Sept 22nd-29th

While the pandemic being ‘over’ seems up for debate, there is certainly a sense we’re seeing a return to ‘normal’. Or a new normal. After several years of cancellations, online editions, and a weirdly fragmented effort across multiple locations, ‘normal’ Fantastic Fest is back this year. One location, a great lineup of in person screenings, a host of events and parties (including the return of Itchy-O!), and yes, we even have a random film app hawking itself, destined to never be heard of again after the festival closes.

You can see the full schedule here, and still buy passes for this year’s event, right here in Austin, TX. We’ll have coverage throughout the festival, but for now, check out our team’s most anticipated features from the lineup!

Dan Tabor

My most anticipated of Fantastic Fest 2022 can easily be broken up into two categories, respectively. First up would be anything by AGFA, who really brought it this year. If you can’t tell from reading Cinapse, I am a big fan of the mission of the American Genre Film Archive, and I usually make it a point to check out whatever they have programmed at the fest. Along with their five mystery films planned(!), they are debuting a new madness inducing mixtape titled The Stairway To Stardom Mixtape, culled from clips from a 80s New York public access show that ran from from 1979 to the early 1990s, which in their words — “felt like it was broadcast from a TV station in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. I can believe it.

They are also screening an uncut restoration of Terminal Usa (1994) billed as “an NC-17-rated sitcom from outer space” by DIY legend Jon Moritsugu. The film sounds like a slice of late 90s indie madness, which promises “a candy-colored hellscape that feels like an episode of Strangers With Candy filmed by Dario Argento during a three-day acid bender.” Finally on my must see AGFA wishlist is Lindsay Denniberg’s Video Diary Of A Lost Girl, which from that still alone is calling to me like a surreal analog neon colored fever dream.

The other category is “anything Kaiju” this year. Not only are they screening the excellent Shin Ultraman, which I previously caught at Fantasia and will no doubt watch again. But, if that wasn’t enough giant monster on monster action for ya, they are also unleashing Gamera Vs. Zigra and the American premiere of the 4K restoration of the original ULTRAMAN series presenting 4 episodes from its late 60s run in Japan. That should be a real treat, not only the restoration, but checking it out on the big screen with a Fantastic Fest audience.

Now to go back to counting down the days.

Ed Travis

Year after year my proclivities do change, but for the most part I’m always loving and championing action cinema of all kinds and choose to highlight those when I have an opportunity to share my most anticipated films of Fantastic Fest. This year I’ll continue to highlight some of those, though I’m erring in a bit of a fantasy direction right now as well.

So, while I’m obviously very excited by some of the bigger titles helmed by some of the most exciting filmmakers working on planet earth today like Something In The Dirt, Triangle Of Sadness, Banshees Of Inisherin, Bones And All, Decision To Leave, or The Menu, I want to highlight some of the more obscure titles I’m genuinely thrilled to check out.

Kids Vs. Aliens: Jason Eisener has kept busy since Hobo With A Shotgun, but this will be his narrative feature follow up to that 2011 jaw-dropping exploitation film. I believe this feature is based on the short segment he did for V/H/S 2, and I couldn’t be more excited about an Amblin-esque Jason Eisener film.

Bad City: Look, I watch a lot of Yakuza movies, but the best place to watch Yakuza movies is at Fantastic Fest, so bring on a tale about an aging brawler with a little fight left in him.

Vesper: I know very little about this film, but the visuals in the trailer are just absolutely striking and female-fronted fantasy/sci-fi is right where my heart is right now, so consider this one among my very most anticipated.

Hunt: The only thing better to watch at Fantastic Fest than Yakuza films are South Korean epics. And with Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae hot off of an Emmy win and bringing us his directorial debut? You couldn’t keep me away from this film.

Demigod: The Legend Begins: Look, I don’t know about you, but I’ve most definitely never in my life seen a Taiwanese martial arts PUPPET fantasy adventure and I will rectify that oversight at Fantastic Fest 2022 posthaste.

Jon Partridge

Alrighty, first up, Park Chan-Wook’s Decision to Leave. If it’s half as twisted and sumptuous as The Handmaiden, we’re in for a treat. The other big name feature that stand out is The Banshees of Inisherin which marks the glorious reunion of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, with writer/director Martin McDonagh. A tale of two longtime friend whose association is abruptly called to an end, and the fallout that ensues in their village. After their last collaboration on In Bruges, seeing their sparring reignited is sure to be a highlight of the fest.

Documentaries at Fantastic Fest are usually a case of quality over quantity. Some of the best ones programmed are those that dive into the creative process of filmmaking, understanding depth, detail, and homage. There is no one more qualified at this sub-genre than Alexandre O. Philippe. After his exploration of the works of Alfred Hitchcock (78/52), Ridley Scott (Memory: The Origin of Alien) and William Friedkin (Leap of Faith), his latest is Lynch/Oz, focusing on how The Wizard of Oz inspired some of David Lynch’s creative efforts. Any trip into Lynch’s headspace is guaranteed to be a wild ride, and Philippe is sure to balance that with some provocative insights.

It’s always great to see some stalwarts of the festival return, and Benson and Moorhead (Spring, The Endless, Synchronic) never disappoint with their own particular brain of genre and mind-bending fare. Something in the Dirt looks set to continue that trend, with a trip down a supernatural rabbit hole in an LA apartment.

Finally, we have Venus, the new film from Jaume Balagueró, the man behind the [REC] series. What more information do you need?

Julian Singleton

Fantastic Fest’s return to a full lineup since 2019 provides an embarrassment of genre riches for an audience eager to storm the gates of Alamo South Lamar this week. Leading the pack are new films by Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness), Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin), and Luca Guadagnino (Bones and All), all of which have found tremendous success at festivals earlier this year. However, horror legend Jaume Balagueró is also in attendance with his new film Venus, the description of which harkens back to the claustrophobic terror of the [REC] franchise as well as the supernatural mystery of his criminally underrated Darkness. As a huge fan of 2019’s The Vast of Night, The Antares Paradox seems right up my alley as another race against time to capture the unexplainable. The absurd class war mayhem of The Menu also seems like it will be a perfect showcase for the Drafthouse chefs to do their stuff, creating an experience that only Fantastic Fest can provide. Other intriguing selections include Michel Hazanavicius’ Final Cut, his remake of Fantastic Fest sensation One Cut of the Dead, as well as Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider, which I hope is full of the trippy yet grounded world-building of their previous film, Border.

On the home side, Razzennest seems like a great thematic companion to last year’s breakout short film, Digital Video Editing With Adobe Premiere Pro: the Real-World Guide to Set up and Workflow. As a film whose focus is on the commentary being given on the film rather than the film itself, it seems like the perfect at-home Fantastic Fast selection for those opting for a more intimate yet possibly terrifying and mind-blowing experience.

As far as films I’ve been lucky to see, the festival is right to honor Park Chan-Wook’s latest masterpiece, Decision to Leave. It’s a crackling Hitchcockian thriller that’s as dreamily romantic as it is venomous and deadly–the film’s myriad surprising twists should be a smash with the sold-out crowds. Something in the Dirt, the latest from Benson and Moorhead, is also one of the year’s funniest and mind-bending movies, infusing the heady sci-fi of something like Primer with the stoned-out antics of The Big Lebowski or Pineapple Express, with a dash of Making a Murderer for extra flavor.